Heel guard



Aug. 31, 1937. J GANCY 2,091,707

HEEL GUARD Original Fi led June 7, 1935 INVENTOR. Julius G'czrzcy ATTORNEY.

Patented Aug. 31, 1937 PATENT OFFICE 2,091,707 HEEL GUARD Julius Gancy, Newark, N.'J.

V A pplication June '7, 1935,.Serial No..25,402

, 'RenewedJanuary 25, 1937 4 Claims. (01. 36-34) Thisinvention relates to shoe heels in general, and particularly to aheelguardintended to be interposedbetween the heel bodyand the lift.

One. of the objects of this invention is to'pro- I vide a heel with or without an interior or exterior reinforcement, equipped with a lift andan .intermediate guard, by means of which the heel body may be guarded againstdamage in the event .the lift becomes jdisengaged.

Another object of this invention is to provide a-heel guard having means for directly securing it to the heel body, and having additional means for controlling the attachment of a lift to and heel body, so as to preclude the latter from. splitting;

when. such lift is being attached eitherv to anew heel or re-attached-tdan old heel. i

The foregoing, and still other objects and advantages of the'presentinvention, will become more fully apparent from the ensuing description, in connection with the accompanying drawing,.in which 1 Figurelis a planview of a preferred form of my heel guard.

Figure '2 is an end view thereof',.as attached between a heel body and a lift.

Figure 3 is an illustration of a shoe provided with a reinforced heel, a lift and a heel guard interposed between the heel body and the lift, the heel portion being in cross-section.

Figure 4 is a perspective detail view of a portion of a reinforcement adapted to be provided at the interior face of the heel body.

Figure 5 shows a disassembled heel of another type, provided with a lift and a heel guard, and

Figure 6 is a perspective view of a portion of a heel reinforcement of a modified construction.

Referring now to the figures, numeral 10 denotes my heel guard, having preferably the outline of the lower end of the heel and provided with an upper cutout I I, and side cutouts l2, and

a V-shaped bottom cutout I3. The heel guard is preferably made of a sheet metal stamping of any suitable material, such as brass, steel, stainless steel, etc., and it is to be understood that I shall not be limited to the particular material employed.

In the connections 14 and I5, dividing the heel guard into fields, there are provided apertures 16, intended to receive suitable attaching means, such as screws, pins, nails, and the like, for the purpose of securing the heel guard directly to the body of the heel. When the lift, made of either rubber, leather, or any other material, is to be attached to the heel over the heel guard, the nails or pins used for thus attaching it are guided by the exterior edges of the cutouts provided in the heel guard, thus preventing any of the nails from coming .too close to the edges of the heel. This is particularly of importance when generally used wooden heels are concerned, where it often happens that the attaching nails split the heel body and prevent re-use thereof for attaching a new lift: 1

In Figure heel, consisting. of a heel body H, a lift l8, and a heel guard ll), disposed between the lift and the heel body,l.and there is also indicated a reinforcement '59, shown in broken lines in Figure 1, at the. interior face of the heel, intended to guard that face against injuryand to stiffen its construction. This reinforcement is preferably provided at the bottom with two lugs 20, which are bent over the inner edge of the heel body, as may be clear-lyseen in Figure 3.

A detail view of the construction of the reinforcementis shown in Figure l, in which it is clearly seen that lugs 20 are spaced from one another bya cutout 2|. Lugs 20 are intended to. be imbeddedin the heel material and are covered by the two solid ends of-theheel uard, as shown medias-1.- 'The cutout 21- is designed to permit a nail to be driven into the heel, as shown at 22, for attaching lift l8, at the middle of its straight inner edge.

In Figure 6 a modified construction of the reinforcement I9 is illustrated, in which, instead of side lugs 20, a central lug 22 is illustrated, which is adapted to register with cutout 13 of the heel guard. The V-shaped lug 22 is preferably provide-d with an aperture 23, for permitting a nail to be passed therethrough.

Referring now to Figure 5, there will be seen what is known as a fiat heel 24, also provided with a reinforcement at its inner face, indicated at 25, of a construction as that shown either in Figure 4 or Figure 6. Over the heel body there is shown a heel guard I0, and above the heel guard is illustrated a rubber heel or lift 26. Through the heel guard, shown in cross-section, passes an attaching nail 21, adapted to be directly driven into the heel body 24.

Rubber heel or lift 26 is also shown provided with attaching nails 28, intended to be driven into the heel body after the attachment of the heel guard. These nails are arranged in the manner indicated by broken line circles in Figure 1. Nail 21 is adapted to engage the upper aperture I6 of the heel guard.

From the foregoing description, it will be clearly seen that the heel guard is interposed between the 2 will be seen the end portion of the heel body and the lift or rubber heel, and is intended not only to serve as a guard for the heel when the lift is worn down or lost, but is designed to define the placing of the attaching nails of the lift within the heel body in such a manner as to effectively prevent splitting of the heel or driving the nails through the sides of the heel, both of which possibilities are most undesirable. The heel guard also serves for securely holding down the inner face heel reinforcement, sometimes advantageous to be provided in connection with the heel body.

In the drawing, I have shown a specific construction of a reinforced heel, and a specific construction of a heel guard, the latter provided with means for attaching it to the heel body and means for controlling or guiding the fastening meansv for the lift or rubber heel relative to the heel body for preventing splitting thereof and for preventing the driving of the nails through the sides of the heel.

It is to be clearly understood that While such specific structures are illustrated and described, changes and improvements may be made both in the heel and the heel guard, as long as the above described principal features of my invention are present, and I reserve for myself the right to make changes and improvements in my invention, without departing from the broad scope thereof, as set forth in the annexed claims:

I claim:

1. The combination with a heel provided with a tread member, of a heel guard interposed between the heel body and said tread member, said heel guard comprising a peripheral rim portion, substantially corresponding to the exterior curvature of the heel, and having a cutout at the front edge of the heel, substantially cross-shaped connections provided within the rim portion and dividing the heel guard into fields, said connections provided with means for facilitating the fastening of the heel guard directly to the body, the interior peripheral edges of said fields being adapted for controlling the location of fastening means for attaching the tread member to the heel.

2. The combination with a heel having a tread member, of a heel guard interposed between the heel body and the tread member, said heel guard comprising a peripheral, curved rim portion corresponding to the exterior contour of the heel and a front, substantially straight portion, corresponding to the front edge of the heel, substantially cross-shaped braces connecting the curved and straight rim portions and forming at the latter portion the sides of a recess or cutout, which cutout serves for the reception of fastening means for the tread member, located exteriorly to said guard, said braces having means for accommodating fastening means for attaching the guard directly to the heel body, said braces dividing the guard into fields, the interior peripheral edges of which serving for controlling the location or positioning of fastening means for the tread member, passing through the attached guard.

3. Ina heel guard, a sheet member provided with a curved outer and a substantially straight front rim portion, a pair of braces connecting the outer and front rim portions and dividing the interior of the guard into fields, the portions of the braces connected with the front rim portion forming the sides of a recess or cutout, said braces provided with means for accommodating fastening means for attaching the guard directly to the heel, the interior peripheral edges of the fields serving as guides for fastening means for attaching a lift to a heel through said guard, while said recess or cutout permits the passage therethrough of fastening means exterior of the guard.

4. A heel guard, comprising a plate from which portions are removed so that the remaining material forms a substantially horseshoe-shaped outer rim, a front, substantially straight portion and substantially X-shaped braces connecting the rim with said latter portion, the ends of said braces associated with said straight portion forming a recess, said braces dividing the interior of the plate into fields, the interior peripheral edges of the fields serving as guides for lift fastening means, said braces provided with means for accommodating attaching means for the guard.

JULIUS GANCY. 

